Had new type cold call today

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seaking81@reddit

Just wait until you get a call where a hacker's emulated a coworker's voice from taking a sample from their voicemail and calling to have a password reset.

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RemmingtonBlack@reddit

well, he wont get this call, his coworker will. (it will hit you in a minute)

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seaking81@reddit

Not hitting at all... We do vishing tests where we emulate coworker's voices and call the helpdesk to have passwords reset or to get information. Did I misspeak or something?

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If the company policies allow for pw resets via phone call, you should rethink your policies. I mean, it´s still common behavior to send initial login credentials via email to the user, same shit as pw resets via phone call. But that´s IT. Security is shunned a lot by most of management.

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seaking81@reddit

No we require 2 methods of verification but the help desk does not always adhere

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Testnewbie@reddit

Classic "Not ok but no staff/time so we do it anyway" issue. That stuff goes hand in hand with "Can you please release my mail with a .xls because I really need it and the sender is known to me." If I notice such things I tend to send the user a harmless mail with a spooefed sender. After that, most of them realise, it´s not ok to "press" the SD people into releasing mails because the sender is known. Anyway, best practice and reality a miles apart usually. A hard learned lesson for someone who worked mostly is extremely tight monitored environments, with some sidesteps into StartUPs (never again!) or MSPs (most likely not again).

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RemmingtonBlack@reddit

the purpose of the call in the first place

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mycatsnameisnoodle@reddit

It should be a sysadmin rule- don’t answer phone calls from numbers you don’t know. It’s always a bullshit sales call.

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sudo_administrator@reddit

My Pixel's call screening is such a time saver. All numbers not saved in my contacts are screened before it rings.

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WillowTreeIT@reddit

As someone who hates answering the phone to those outside of family, I absolutely love this.

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DlLDOSWAGGINS@reddit

It is absolutely amazing. So, so satisfying to screen it. "tell me what you're calling about" "uh, trying to reach u/DlLDOSWAGGINS" "tell me more about why you're calling" "uh, DlLDOSWAGGINS" "tell me more about why you're calling" **hangs up**

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Intimidating_furby@reddit

r/rimjobsteve

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Zarochi@reddit

My workplace asked me if I still needed my phone, and I just said no lmao. Really solved the issue TBH.

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slayermcb@reddit

When my old tech director left and I had to redirect his line to mine it made calls like this so much easier to dodge. I haven't changed the caller ID information on that line abdDirector is not my title so I don't need to change my caller ID either. It's been several months, if they aren't calling me directly I know it's a cold call

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NameEnvironmental358@reddit

I agree, but there are times when you’re expecting an important call from say your doctor and these fuckers spoof their phone numbers to match your area code.

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SquizzOC@reddit

I am Sales person, can confirm.

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_haha_oh_wow_@reddit

Is it not?

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mycatsnameisnoodle@reddit

It is for me

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HankMardukasNY@reddit

I live by this rule on my work phone and cell phone. If it’s important, they’ll leave a message

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MedicatedLiver@reddit

And those that don't leave a message get added to my phone's blacklist....

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_haha_oh_wow_@reddit

Same, even when they do leave a message, 99% of the time, it's still spam.

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Unable_Attitude_6598@reddit

Lol sometimes I get calls escalated to me like this which is nuts because they figure out my name and helpdesk is just like “ooh they said his name must be important” I just transfer that shit right back to the helpdesk.

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chillyhellion@reddit

My local, rural telco doesn't offer caller ID. It's hell.

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melasses@reddit

Wait? are you stuck in the 1980s?

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DaemosDaen@reddit

WTH, no cell phone in this day and age?

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SolarPoweredKeyboard@reddit

When I worked helpdesk we were basically the phone filter for the Head of IT and our most senior tech. So many cold calls...

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Sysadminbvba777@reddit

discusting

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Art_Vand_Throw001@reddit

Yep. I never answer landline or cell if you’re not in my contact list. Like 99% of the time if not in my list it’s not someone I would want to talk to.

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rickestrada@reddit

This.

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kliman@reddit

I’ve been having decent success with the abbreviated version “don’t answer phone calls”

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stkyrice@reddit

I have two numbers. I give one to sales and use it for sign ups etc. That number goes to voicemail directly. I'll call them back when I check messages. The other unpublished number I give to only certain clients or staff.

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billdoe@reddit

Random call worked on my friends wife just a few days after I formatted her laptop. They made with $300. I couldn't believe it.

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The_Koplin@reddit

My boss had an interesting encounter with a vendor we already use. His account with this vendor stopped working, we have 2 years left with, odd. He tries to reset the account, no joy, odd. He opens a support case. They respond they need to schedule a meeting to assist, he agrees. Calls into the meeting and they ask "did you try to login to day", yes he had in fact just 5 min before the call tried to login and tried to rest his password all over just to be sure. He hears them type and say "how about now?" - sure enough it works. Then they proceed to start an upsell right there, "are you aware of our new...". TLDR: vendor turned my bosses account off so they could to an upsell and pretend it was tech support.

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MitchellsTruck@reddit

Yesterday: "Hi, am I through to the IT department?" Me: "Yes." Cold caller: "Hi, can I speak to the IT Director?" Me: "No." CC: "Er...um. Sorry? I need to speak to the IT Director please." Me: "Not going to happen, I'm afraid." CC: "Oh, OK. Why?" Me: "Because they don't want to speak to you." There was about another minute's flummoxed chat until they realised that I wasn't even going to give them a name. Apparently they had never been told "no" before.

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DarthPneumono@reddit

> Apparently they had never been told "no" before. They've been told no 99.9999% of the time. These are tactics to get you to a. waste your time or hopefully b. lament and give them a name/number/some amount of attention. It's not worth even engaging, they literally get paid to burn your time.

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PappaFrost@reddit

Please name and shame the vendor that called and lied to you about being hacked!

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TEverettReynolds@reddit

Don't pick up the phone. If it's important, someone will leave a message. If you think you must pick up all phone calls, then get a new number, as yours is already being sold on the SPAMMER market.

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TK-CL1PPY@reddit

If you know it, name and shame. That shit is unforgivable.

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anonymousITCoward@reddit

> I had random a vendor call me, and the first words that was said " You've been hacked" We hear about those all the time... it's usually not a vendor... it's some scam call... I usually ask them if it's from all the pornography that i watch... then i get hung up on and have a good chuckle... it's really important to use the long word too make you sound a bit more vanilla

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new_nimmerzz@reddit

Had one email our CIO, “We found your data on the dark web!” I knew it was Bs but he wanted me to check it out… called back and of course “glad we got your attention, because you don’t want a REAL message like that”….. hung up and blocked their domain.

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Icolan@reddit

It's the new version of "I want to talk to you about your car's extended warranty.".

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NameEnvironmental358@reddit

They call me at the worst times. I’m either taking a shit or on a Zoom call. Frustrating as hell when you’re expecting an important call.

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Moses_Horwitz@reddit

"Let me put you on hold while I transfer your call to the FBI." Then put them on hold and go have lunch.

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_haha_oh_wow_@reddit

Holy shit, I am stealing this. Also, thank you.

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_haha_oh_wow_@reddit

Reminder: Use [Lenny](https://www.lennytroll.com/) to manage your calls from sales bros.

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moderatenerd@reddit

I want to know why everytime I get a new job I'm added to email lists that send out cybersecurity bs emails or newsletters. Get hit up by random vendors about asking if I have any desire to move payroll companies (why would a sysadmin have that power?) and get phished by the "company CEO." Seriously its like clockwork every year.

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littlelorax@reddit

This happens to me to. I suspect sales people are using job postings website to generate leads on people who are in a certain field. Not sure how they scrape the data, but it's gotta be something like that.

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anxiousinfotech@reddit

We've got all kinds of warnings that get prepended to impersonation emails AND send them to quarantine that only IT has the power to release. This is set up for all execs and key finance users. Users can view their quarantine though, and come to us panicked that they can't self release an email from [bob3892378@gmail.com](mailto:bob3892378@gmail.com) with the CEO's display name and a subject of "THIS IS NOT FROM <CEO> Need a quick favor" and a preview starting off with a warning stating "This is a scam email impersonating <ceo> and has been quarantined by IT".

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Polar_Ted@reddit

I get users that complain about receiving spam in their junk folder and quarantine. They expect 100% perfect spam blocking so they never see it. That's not how this works folks.

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moderatenerd@reddit

In my last three jobs apparently whoever was in charge of emails was not smart enough to do this and had to get alerted to the scam. Twice by me.

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Jaymesned@reddit

You answer your phone?

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RaNdomMSPPro@reddit

Someone will engage. Someone will let them remote in to "fix the problem." Guaranteed, it's just a numbers game.

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graph_worlok@reddit

Were they actually a vendor? Did they provide any reference data? If they were a legit vendor making a statement like that with no proof, I’d be contacting their manager about poor practices. Otherwise… there’s every possibility one of your systems is compromised and someone was trying to do you a solid.

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GoogleDrummer@reddit

> there’s every possibility one of your systems is compromised and someone was trying to do you a solid. At my last job it was our policy to contact known business associates who we got phishing emails from. This involved me finding their main business line from a known good source and directly calling it. But I'd introduce myself, what company I was calling from and why I was calling.

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Kanibalector@reddit

I do this all the time. When one of my users or our systems report bad behavior from a user that we know this shouldn’t be coming from we contact that company to try to make sure their IT is aware. Usually, I lead with, your user has been compromised.

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ThatGothGuyUK@reddit

They want you to talk enough to get a basic sample of your voice (Yes, No, etc) some will even get a large sample and then they can apply for things on their system and they have you agreeing to buy it (using the samples or AI), if they use AI they can even con your friends if you give them details).

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littleredryanhood@reddit

Only good cold call I’ve had was a vendor dropped off a pumpkin for me with a note asking if I could carve out some time for him.

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Sysadminbvba777@reddit

Hi there, What phone system do you use and how many you pay for it? Maybe we can arrange a meeting to give you a better suiting plan?

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unixuser011@reddit

Worst. Vendor. Question. Ever.

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Aust1mh@reddit

You get calls? Any and all sales are given our reception number… we also have a ‘fake’ manager named on all our purchases, so when that name gets a call reception knows is junk and dumps the call. I’ve never found a reason to give out my number.

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International-Job212@reddit

Cute...its the internet. We just need ur name...we willll ...make ...our...pitch

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Kitchen_Part_882@reddit

I worked for a company that did this, the fake manager was Mr Hunt, first name - Michael.

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michaelpaoli@reddit

>random a vendor call me, and the first words that was said " You've been hacked" Sounds like a pretty fscked up vendor. They start with "You've been hacked", my first presumption is it's a scammer, and my likely response is "Oh really, please provide the evidence or confirmation.", they fail to do that, they're scammer, or vendor with exactly zero credibility and goodbye. Anyway, vendor that fscks up like that, that's blacklist behavior.

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LordFalconis@reddit

I get where OP is coming from. I get email from vendor, then they try calling or vice versa. Some do this multiple days in a row. I started blocking their email and phone numbers. The worse is when a vendor somehow got a hold of my personal cell and called me after hours. I ripped him a new one.

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maxlan@reddit

I need some random a, could you send me the vendors name. I'm glad your I's are ok. What about your other letters. Anyone saying "you've been hacked" is barely a vendor and more likely a simple scam. If they can tell you what has been hacked and how, then maybe they're a vendor. This would be like a medicine salesman phoning up saying "you're sick". Pointless, other to find out who is gullible enough to believe them, then they've got an easy mark for the scam that comes next.

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RemmingtonBlack@reddit

As far as hacking is concerned, How did you "check all your systems" and come to the conclusion that "all is fine" .......and then hung up. Are you Data or Chloe?

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harrywwc@reddit

SEIM Dashboard?

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GuyWhoSaysYouManiac@reddit

Read carefully. OP says all "I's fine". Checking all I's is quick, you just press the I key, and if it types an I you are golden. But yeah. Making sure none of their systems got hacked would of course be near impossible...

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